Find out how much your story, photo or news clip is worth.
We supply the worlds media with stories, news content, images and footage. SWNS is the largest press agency in the UK and our nationwide offices are open 24 hours a day.
Make sure you get the most for your story. We cannot be beaten in terms of the fees we pay for your stories.
Sell My Story
SELL MY STORY OR PICTURES TO THE PRESS
HOW TO SELL MY STORY
Sell My Story: To sell your story, simply fill out the form on the right hand side of this page. Don’t worry, this is just to give us an idea of your story, so you don’t need to go into too much detail.
We’ll get straight back to you to let you know how much your story or photo is worth.
If you’re happy to go ahead, we’ll give you a call and go through the story in more detail (or get a bit more info about the photo/video).
We will only use your story or picture once you are happy and have given the go-ahead. Our service is free to you (we get paid separately for writing and supplying stories) and there is no obligation.
HOW WE ENSURE THAT YOU GET THE BEST FEE
SWNS is the largest and most established press agency in the UK. For over 50 years we’ve been taking your stories to the press and we have offices, journalists and photographers all over the country. There are two ways that we guarantee to get you the highest fee for your story. The method we use will depend on the nature of your story:
1) Sell your story exclusively via our Daily Story Auction.
2) Sell your story through our Newswire service.
Read more about our Daily Story Auction and our Newswire service below…
DAILY STORY AUCTION
Every day we auction each of our stories to the highest bidder, which guarantees you the highest fee. The winning bidder will buy the exclusive rights to your story or picture, so they are the only one that can use it.
Once you have completed the short form on this page, we will get back to you with an estimated fee for your story so that you know what to expect. If you’re happy to proceed, we will place your story on the auction list. Every publication bids against the others, in the same way as a typical auction, meaning that you are guaranteed to get the highest price for your story. Please note that you will only get paid if your story truly is exclusive and hasn’t been published elsewhere.
The Daily Story Auction is perfect for real-life stories, and it is usually the most lucrative way to sell your story. Our service is free to you. The publications pay us separately for supplying them with stories and for writing copy that they can trust.
NEWSWIRE SERVICE
If your story or picture has more of a strong news angle, or it needs to be printed as quickly as possible, we will send your story out via our ‘Newswire’ service. This means that your story or picture is sent out via an automated system to every magazine and newspaper in the country and can appear in the morning’s papers.
Once the story is on the Newswire, any publication that chooses to can use the pictures or words, and you’ll be paid for the column inches that it takes up, or the size, quality and page that the pictures appear on. This is how the same stories appear in every publication (non exclusive stories). Although you’ll only be paid a few pounds for each photo or column, the money will really add up if lots of newspapers use the copy.
Perhaps you’ve filmed a breaking news story, or there are others with the same story/images who may sell their story before you can? The Newswire will get your story out there straight away and earn you money quickly. In addition, putting your story out via the Newswire Service is also something to consider if there isn’t any interest in your story via the Story Auction. In many cases, magazines will have a lot more interest in your story if they have seen it in a few newspaper columns first.
If you’re still not sure about the process, our team would be happy to answer any questions you might have or provide any advice about the process, or you can read out Frequently Asked Questions page.
I’M NOT SURE IF I WANT TO SELL MY STORY
Most people are nervous about dealing with the press, but we’re not all of us are the monsters that have been portrayed in the press and on TV recently.
SWNS is the UK’s biggest training ground for journalists so we make sure that every law and regulation is followed (you can read more about the National Association of Press Agencies here). Our team are friendly and professional, and you will be in total control of your story. We rely on people coming back to us time after time with new content for us to place in the media, so we always make sure that you’re happy, which is why SWNS has the best reputation in the industry.
Anybody on our team is more than happy to have a chat and answer any questions or concerns that you might have. You can read more about SWNS on our About SWNS page, or if you have a photo to sell please visit our Sell My Photo page to find out more.
